to move up and down
After 1,500 matches in charge of Manchester United, Alex Ferguson was denied a final victory Sunday to cap the most successful managerial career in British football history.
But there was one final landmark for the 71-year-old Scot at West Bromwich Albion — the first 5-5 draw in the Premier League.
The official retirement party was last week at home when 76,000 fans at Old Trafford saluted Ferguson and the 13th and last of the record 20 English league titles he delivered for Man United.
Referee Michael Oliver blew the whistle on United’s season finale — and the last match of Ferguson’s career — at the Hawthorns in central England. From now on, the defensive fragilities on display Sunday are incoming manager David Moyes’ problem. (Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
David Beckham is retiring: The end of an era
The 38-year-old Beckham, who recently won a league title in a fourth country with Paris Saint-Germain, has become a global superstar since starting his career at Manchester United.
“I’m thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level,” Beckham said in a statement Thursday. (Photo: Getty Images/AFP/Files)
“Today it was David and Goliath. It was following a dream”
Wigan won the FA Cup for the first time in its 81-year history by beating big-spending Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday in one of the biggest final upsets the tournament has seen.
Ben Watson headed in the winner in the 90th minute at Wembley Stadium from Shaun Maloney’s corner after City, six minutes after City defender Pablo Zabaleta was sent off.
“The boys were fantastic and they deserve it,” Watson told the BBC. “To come on and score the winner in the FA Cup final is a dream.” (Photos: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images, Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images)
The race was in London, but the thoughts of many were with another city.
Thousands of runners who took part in the London Marathon on Sunday paid tribute to those killed and injured in the Boston Marathon six days earlier. Participants paused for a moment of silence in the beginning, many wore black ribbons on their chests as a sign of solidarity, and two runners finished carrying a banner that read “For Boston.”
The mood was festive, defiant — and the surging crowds who turned out on the glorious spring day to line the route roared enthusiastically.
“It means that runners are stronger than bombers,” said Valerie Bloomfield, a 40-year-old participant from France. (Photos: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images, Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images, Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Suit & Tie: David Beckham showed off some of his skills on Wednesday during his trip to China, playing with students at a middle school in Beijing.
Beckham is on a five-day visit to China at the invitation of the China Football Association as China’s first international ambassador. (Photos: Alexander F. Yuan/The Associated Press; Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Chelsea’s David Luiz, left, jumps for the ball against Manchester United’s Robin van Persie during their English FA Cup quarter-final soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Sunday March 10, 2013. (Photo: Jon Super/The Associated Press)
Rival teams the ‘Up’ards and Down’ards’ battle for the ball in the river during the annual Ash Wednesday ‘no rules’ football match on February 13, 2013, in Ashbourne, England.
First played in the 17th Century between teams from opposite ends of the Derbyshire town, hundreds of participants aim to get a ball into one of two goals that are positioned three miles apart at either end of Ashboune.
The match starts on Shrove Tuesday and can last until 10 PM. If a goal is scored before 6 PM, then a new ball is ‘turned up’ again and a new game started. If the goal is after 6 PM then the game ends for that day and continues into the next day - known as Ash Wednesday. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
(Source: nationalpost.com)
This is how every Monday should begin: Competitors, one dressed as The Hulk, get ready to take part in the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships at Tooting Bec Lido on Saturday in London, England. Open to all comers the Championships involve swimmers of all ages and abilities. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Someone needs to tell Eden Hazard you’re supposed to kick the BALL, not the KIDS.
A ball boy (2nd R) grimaces as he walks off the pitch after being kicked by Eden Hazard of Chelsea who was sent off for his role in the incident during the League Cup match between Swansea City and Chelsea. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
(Source: sports.nationalpost.com)
Another Premier League weekend scarred by racist abuse, and the coin attack that left Rio Ferdinand dripping in blood at the Manchester derby, has English authorities fearing a return to the spite-filled climate when the country was a footballing outcast.
Despite English football fans being praised last month by FIFA President Sepp Blatter as positive examples for the world, unrest at globally televised Premier League matches looks to be mounting to revive memories of the hostilities in the 1970s and 80s.
“To see Rio Ferdinand with blood on his face is absolutely terrible,” English Football Association chairman David Bernstein said Monday. “I think it’s disturbing that we’re seeing a recurrence of these types of incidents.
“We’ve had racial abuse issues, the odd pitch incursion, things being thrown at players. It’s very unacceptable and has to be dealt with severely.”
Prosecutors acted swiftly Monday to charge nine men in connection with disorder at the previous day’s top-of-the table derby in which Manchester United won 3-2 at Manchester City.
(Source: sports.nationalpost.com)
